Finance Minister refutes claims of anti-poor Budget Speech

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has refuted claims that the Budget Speech that was set to be tabled on Wednesday was going to be anti-poor.

He says the cabinet will meet on Monday to deliberate on the Budget Speech that will now take place on 12 March. This after the budget speech was postponed on Wednesday.

Godongwana disputed claims that the hosting of the Budget Speech was a wasteful expenditure. He says there is no disagreement on fiscal sustainability and the funding of some of the priorities.

“If you look at the returns from SARS, 76% of VAT is in fact paid by high-income earners and not by the poor. Because the majority of the poor are zero-rated. So, also, if you read the speech, we were going to zero rate them further. So, that is a pro-poor in my view,” says Godongwana.

[WATCH] Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana says his relationship with SARS Commissioner Edward Kieswetter is fine. Speaking to #Fullview anchor @_BongiweZwane, Godongwana said, “Its fine; our relationship is good. The fact that we disagree on other matters does not make our… pic.twitter.com/v5Mzv4CMF1

— SABC News (@SABCNews) February 21, 2025

Budget 2025 | Reaction to postponement by political parties:

‘Budget delay not a crisis’

Meanwhile, President Cyril Ramaphosa says the failure by Godongwana to table the budget should not be interpreted as a crisis.

The President says even in mature democracies around the world where there are coalition governments, the budget is a contested terrain.

Addressing the media on the margins of the G20 Foreign Affairs Ministers Meeting in Johannesburg, Ramaphosa says the Government of National Unity will find one another over the budget.

“We must also see what happens in other countries over budgetary issues. The direction I want us to move on is how we deal with substantive issues,” says Ramaphosa.

Budget 2025 | Ramaphosa concedes SA’s revenue woes: